Are my problems serious enough for me to see a therapist?

If you’ve ever considered therapy, it’s possible that you may have asked yourself if you really need it. Maybe you can just figure it our on your own, or maybe you can just talk out whatever you’re going through with a friend.

It’s a fair question; at what point should you seek a therapist or counselor instead of just working through it? Do you need a diagnosis? Are your problems as serious as other people who see a therapist?

To answer this question, there are a couple of different avenues that need to be explored.

For one, it’s important to recognize that you’ll find different mental health professionals with different philosophies on the matter. For all intents and purposes, the discussion written here is the perspective of the writer.

With that being said, therapy doesn’t need to mean that your problems are severe. Some people utilize therapy as a place to address diagnosis like anxiety, depression, trauma, OCD, etc. but others might utilize therapy to work through more standard life stressors like life transitions and self-exploration. A therapy session can be a place for an individual to bounce ideas and thoughts off a trained professional who can help them identify practical insights and perceptions. It can simply be an awesome resource to learn more about yourself.

There really is no problem too small for a therapy session as some people appreciate the opportunity to have an objective, non-judgmental third party take a listen at what might be going on in their minds/lives.

It should be noted that a trained, licensed therapist should be able identify when boundaries are being crossed or when an over-dependence is developing and act accordingly. But for the most part, as long as therapy is being utilized in a healthy, productive way it can be a helpful tool for anybody looking for feedback from a trained mental health professional.

Another point to be considered is whether or not your therapist takes insurance and here is where things can get tricky. In a nutshell, when you see a therapist who takes insurance, they need to submit a diagnosis in order to get paid. That means if you don’t have a true diagnosis that is found in the DSM (The manual that therapist’s use to determine a diagnosis), your therapist won’t be able to bill and get reimbursed for seeing you. That means if your therapist is billing insurance they are entering some form of a diagnosis for you (this is often an “adjustment disorder”) when they submit their claims to your insurance company.

This, among some other reasons (confidentiality, treatment limitations etc.) is why many people opt out of using their insurance when seeing a therapist.

Many therapists will offer a free phone or in-person consultation to discuss your goals and needs before starting treatment. This can be a good idea for anybody who is unsure whether or not therapy is for them. These conversations serve as an opportune time to articulate why you’re considering seeing a therapist and get feedback as to whether or not it’d be a good fit!